WM3Where is the evidence?

The Background

In May 5th, 1993, three boys in West Memphis were found dead in the woods. There names are Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and James Moore. They about were 8 to 9 years old when they were killed. This was a huge tragedy for the people in West Memphis. Nobody knew who committed these crimes. But the people and the parents of these little boys wanted answers. So the police started to look deep into it. After about thirty days, the police convicted three teenage boys of committing these crimes. But there were a lot of questions because the police did not have enough evidence to convict anyone. The names of the boys who were convicted are Damien Echols, Jesse Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin.

The suspects

These are the three boys that were convicted of the crime. There are known as the West Memphis Three (WM3). They claimed in the beginning that they never had anything to do with these crimes. But people and the media kept blaming these three for some reason. It is believed that they were blamed because of their appearance. They were the type to enjoy heavy metal rock music. So, people started to think that were devil worshipers. Then people started to think that since these boys were "devil worshiper", they most certainly committed these crimes. After a while the boys had a trial and all three of them were sent to jail.

The support

After a couple of years in jail, the West Memphis Three started gaining more and more supporters. Many people believed that these boys were innocent and they wanted them to be free. People would donate and spread awareness just so people could recognize that these boys are most likely innocent and sitting in prison for a crime that they did not do.

The result

These boys were no longer boys, they were now men in prison for a crime that they probably didn't even do. At this time technology was becoming more advanced. So, the police were able to discover that the DNA does not match these three men. Now the men had to plead guilty in order to be set free. This seemed very ironic and Jason Baldwin even said how it is not justice because years ago they said they were innocent but were still sent to prison. However, now they pleaded guilty but were actually set free.